Winning last week's Heptagonals championship by a disappointing 1 1/2 points may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Crimson trackmen. Spurred on by their medicore performance at Ithaca, they just might pull a coup of major proportion in New York today in the IC4A indoor track and field championships.

Led by captain Ed Meehan, the runners will be making an all-out attempt to unseat defending champion Villanova and give Harvard its first IC4A crown since 1927. Last year a 14-man contingent took fifth place.

If Bill McCurdy's troops are to win tonight, Walt Hewlett, Art Croasdale, and Aggrey Awori must bounce back from their sub-par performances of a week ago.

Hewlett, somewhat hampered by a cold infection, finished next to last in the two-mile run at Ithaca, but could end up as high as second in that event tonight. The likely winner is Villanova's Vic Zwolak, who has posted an 8:55 time for the distance this winter, 6.5 seconds faster than Hewlett's best.

Croasdale ranks as the favorite in the 35-1b. weight throw, a billing he failed to live up to last weekend. But at Ithaca, the Crimson junior was amazingly foul-prone, and the likelihood of a repeat o that fluke showing tonight is slight. Northeastern's Bill Corsetti is likely to provide the chief opposition tonight.

Awori Big Threat

In the broad-jump, the 60-yard dash, and the 60-yard high hurdles, Awori is a scoring threat. Running on an injured leg in last year's meet, the Ugandan captured first in the hurdles and second in the sprint, to score 9 of his team's 14 points.

Hopefully, Awori and Ohiri will finish one-two in the broad jump. Navy's Dave Lester, who has posted a leap of 23 feet-plus, seems to be the most probable thorn in the Crimson side, if any outsider is capable of rising to the occasion.

Awori and Ohiri will also carry the Crimson banner in the sprint, but the possibility here of anything higher than a third place is slight. Fordham's Sam Perry, who owns a 6.1 second timing, and Princeton's John Ball and Navy's John Sai, who copped the top two places in the Heps, are co-favored.

Sophomore Tony Lynch will team with Awori in the hurdles, where an exceptionally strong field could easily limit the Crimson to a skimpy point or two.

Crimson sophomore Chris Pardes, Princeton's John Hartnett, and Yale's Kim Hill will battle for first place in the high jump.

Zwolak and hurdler Larry Livers are the only hints of Villanova power in the Crimson strength events, but there are a host of strong, speedy Wildcats in the others whose scoring potential makes their team's billing as the pre-meet favorite no mere press creation.

Noel Carroll heads the field in the 1000-yard run, and should take first place. Crimson captain Meehan has gone amazingly far this year running on his determination. He may not enter this race, however, since the evening field is chosen by times, not places, in several afternoon trial heats--a selection method unfavorable to a runner like Meehan, who thrives on competition.

Wildcat Rolando Crus should do no worse than second in the pole vault, where he and La Salle's John Uelses will battle near the 16-foot mark